Need to remove old outlook shortcut and unpinned from taskbar

Question

Need to remove old outlook shortcut and unpinned from taskbar

TechUST 606

Hi Techie,

I recently observed in my environment that both the old outlook and new outlook are pinned to the taskbar. I need a script that can remove the old outlook shortcut and simultaneously unpin it from the taskbar. I have tried below script, which removes the shortcut from this path %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar\outlook.link. However, it does not unpin it from the taskbar. When I click on the old outlook icon on the taskbar, it says "it might be deleted, moved, or renamed. Do you want to remove item?" I restarted many times but but outlook icon not removing on taskbar,
My goal is to remove the shortcut and also unpin it from the taskbar.

                                                                  @echo off
REM Unpinning Outlook from taskbar
powershell -Command "& {$tbs = New-Object -ComObject Shell.Application; $tbs.Namespace('C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs').Items() | ? {$_.Name -eq 'Outlook'} | % {$_.InvokeVerb('Unpin from Taskbar')}}"
 
REM Removing old Outlook shortcut from taskbar
DEL /F /S /Q /A "%AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar\Outlook.lnk"
 
REM Deleting registry key
REG DELETE "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Taskband" /v FavoritesRemoved /f
 
REM Restarting explorer.exe
taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
start explorer.exe

farri65 5 Reputation points

2024-02-11T17:59:48.58+00:00
It's important to note that manipulating shortcuts and pinned items on the taskbar can be system-specific, and direct modification of these settings may not be supported or recommended by Microsoft. However, you can use PowerShell to unpin items from the taskbar. Here's a PowerShell script that may help:

# Specify the path to the shortcut $shortcutPath = "$env:APPDATA\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar\outlook.lnk" # Remove the shortcut Remove-Item -Path $shortcutPath -Force # Unpin the item from the taskbar $shell = New-Object -ComObject Shell.Application $folder = $shell.Namespace('C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs') $item = $folder.ParseName('Outlook.lnk') # Check if the item is pinned before attempting to unpin if ($item.IsPinned -eq $true) { $item.InvokeVerb('unpin from taskbar') } Write-Host "Old Outlook shortcut removed and unpinned from the taskbar."

Make sure to replace 'outlook.lnk' with the actual name of the shortcut you want to remove. Also, be aware that modifying system settings using scripts can have unintended consequences, so use this script at your own risk. It's recommended to test the script in a controlled environment before deploying it widely. for more detail you can visit URL

2 answers

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farri65 5 Reputation points

2024-02-11T17:59:48.58+00:00

It's important to note that manipulating shortcuts and pinned items on the taskbar can be system-specific, and direct modification of these settings may not be supported or recommended by Microsoft. However, you can use PowerShell to unpin items from the taskbar. Here's a PowerShell script that may help:

# Specify the path to the shortcut $shortcutPath = "$env:APPDATA\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar\outlook.lnk" # Remove the shortcut Remove-Item -Path $shortcutPath -Force # Unpin the item from the taskbar $shell = New-Object -ComObject Shell.Application $folder = $shell.Namespace('C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs') $item = $folder.ParseName('Outlook.lnk') # Check if the item is pinned before attempting to unpin if ($item.IsPinned -eq $true) { $item.InvokeVerb('unpin from taskbar') } Write-Host "Old Outlook shortcut removed and unpinned from the taskbar."

Make sure to replace 'outlook.lnk' with the actual name of the shortcut you want to remove. Also, be aware that modifying system settings using scripts can have unintended consequences, so use this script at your own risk. It's recommended to test the script in a controlled environment before deploying it widely. for more detail you can visit URL

Answer 1

XinGuo-MSFT 22,231

Hi,

Based on my test, please replace the first line of your script with the following command.

powershell -Command "& {((New-Object -Com Shell.Application).NameSpace('shell:::{4234d49b-0245-4df3-b780-3893943456e1}').Items() | ?{$_.Name -like '*Outlook*'}).Verbs() | ?{$_.Name.replace('&','') -match 'Unpin from taskbar'} | %{$_.DoIt()}}"

Answer 2

Pavel yannara Mirochnitchenko 13,341 MVP

I would create totally new set for taskbar and replace all original icons:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <LayoutModificationTemplate xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/LayoutModification" xmlns:defaultlayout="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/FullDefaultLayout" xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout" xmlns:taskbar="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/TaskbarLayout" Version="1"> <CustomTaskbarLayoutCollection PinListPlacement="Replace"> defaultlayout:TaskbarLayout taskbar:TaskbarPinList <taskbar:DesktopApp DesktopApplicationID="windows.immersivecontrolpanel_cw5n1h2txyewy!microsoft.windows.immersivecontrolpanel"/> <taskbar:DesktopApp DesktopApplicationID="Microsoft.Windows.Explorer"/> <taskbar:DesktopApp DesktopApplicationID="MSEdge"/> <taskbar:DesktopApp DesktopApplicationID="Microsoft.Office.OUTLOOK.EXE.15"/> <taskbar:UWA AppUserModelID ="Microsoft.CompanyPortal_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App"/> <taskbar:UWA AppUserModelID ="MicrosoftTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App"/> <taskbar:DesktopApp DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%SystemRoot%\cmtrace.exe"/> </taskbar:TaskbarPinList> </defaultlayout:TaskbarLayout> </CustomTaskbarLayoutCollection> </LayoutModificationTemplate>

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TechUST 606 Reputation points

2024-02-09T17:29:01.7333333+00:00

Hi Pavel yannara Mirochnitchenko, How to apply this for non-autopilot devices. Still didn't find where it is coming from. i mean old outlook automatically pinning to taskbar. I pulled up taskbar and start menu XML but didn't see line that automatically pinned outlook to taskbar. Can you please suggest if we can achieve to implement through on-prem AD policy. I want it to match this so please suggest XML file or share steps.
Pavel yannara Mirochnitchenko 13,341 Reputation points MVP

2024-02-11T10:20:05.9933333+00:00

I have applied this to Users and it works, so the taskbar should be cleaned out after the user signs in for the first time. I don't have AD and GPO anymore, but GPO should have similar option there....

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Need to remove old outlook shortcut and unpinned from taskbar

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